This invention relates generally to games, and more particularly to a system and method for concurrently playing a plurality of poker games utilizing starting hands and communal card flops.
Card games such as poker have long been enjoyed by society as a means for entertainment. The popularity of casino gambling with wagering continues to increase, as does recreational gambling such as non-wagering computer game gambling. In one traditional cardroom poker game, players gather to compete against each other, by waging bets that their poker hand will have a higher poker rank than the other players"" hands. The highest poker rank in each played hand is the winner of the hand, and if bets were made, the winner collects the bets made by the losing players for that hand.
However, it is often the case that players would rather place their bets against the xe2x80x9chouse,xe2x80x9d rather than against each other. A method for playing a poker game that allows bets to be wagered against the house, yet maintaining a competitive cardroom poker environment, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,025, issued to Sklansky et al. on Jan. 17, 1995. Sklansky et al. describes the problems associated with playing cardroom poker where each player is competing against his/her fellow players rather than against the house, as well as the inability for traditional poker to provide for incentive features such as bonuses associated with certain poker ranks. Sklansky et al. further describes a conventional form of live table poker known as xe2x80x9cHold""em,xe2x80x9d where each player at the table is dealt, face-down, a hand of two cards. After a betting round, the dealer turns face-up three communal cards known as the xe2x80x9cflopxe2x80x9d Bets are made, and additional cards of the flop are turned face up. Thus, each of the players uses his/her two-card face-up hand in connection with the flop to determine the resulting poker rank, and the highest poker rank identifies the winner of the round. Among other things, the Sklansky et al. patent thus describes a manner of allowing players to compete against the house rather than each other.
In the case of communal card poker games such as Hold""em, the players play their hands against the other players"" hands. In other types of poker games, such as standard five-card video poker, the player is competing against a preset, threshold poker rank to determine whether or not the player""s hand is a winning hand. No other xe2x80x9cplayersxe2x80x9d are, or need to be involved. In communal card poker games such as Hold""em, every hand will produce a winner to one of the players of the round, because no threshold poker rank is required. For example, in Hold""em, a player may win having the highest poker rank of Ace-high over the remaining players. This characteristic of such communal card poker games, i.e., that the poker hands are played relative to each other rather than a predetermined threshold poker rank, requires computation of a resulting hand for each player, that can be compared to other players"" poker hands. The competition for highest poker rank between players holds true even where the wagering itself is against the house. This multi-player characteristic requires analysis of multiple player hands before determining which hand is the winner.
Despite the benefits and advantages provided by the Sklansky et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,025 described above, the prior art does not provide a manner of increasing the game play volume for communal card games, such as Hold""em, Omaha, and other poker games utilizing partial starting hands, communal: cards, and multiple players. The ability to play an increased volume of communal card poker games in a given time period may be desirable to the player, and in the case of casino gambling, to the casino.
Accordingly, there is a need for a manner of increasing the volume of multi-player, communal card poker games that can be played in a given amount of time. It would also be beneficial to provide multiple environments to facilitate playing of these games. The present invention provides a solution to the aforementioned and other shortcomings of the prior art, while offering additional advantages over the prior art.
The present invention generally relates to a method, apparatus, and program for facilitating concurrent play of multiple communal-card poker games. The poker games are of a type utilizing starting hands. The starting hands are initially-dealt groups of cards that are shown to a participant, allowing the participant to select one of the card groups believed to be the most likely to result in winning hands when combined with a plurality of communal card xe2x80x9cflops.xe2x80x9d The invention provides a manner in which multiple poker games utilizing such starting hands and communal card flops can be concurrently played. Multiple starting hands are dealt, and a participant selects one of the starting hands. Multiple communal card flops are dealt one for each of the concurrently-played poker gamesxe2x80x94each of which ultimately results in a separate resulting poker hand when combined with the selected starting hand. The participant""s resulting poker hands are compared to other hands, i.e., other player""s hands in a live table embodiment of the invention or computer-generated hands in a computer-implemented embodiment, to determine the winner of each concurrently-played poker game/round.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method for electronically facilitating concurrent play of multiple, communal-card poker games by a participant is provided. A plurality of selectable starting hands of cards are displayed on a display device, where each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand. The participant selects one of the plurality of selectable starting hands via a user interface. A plurality of multi-card flops are displayed on the display device. The number of multi-card flops displayed corresponds to the number of poker games to be concurrently-played. A plurality of participant resulting poker hands are derived, one for each combination of the participant""s selected starting hand and the plurality of multi-card flops. A plurality of remaining resulting poker hands are also derived, one for each combination of non-selected ones of the starting hands and the plurality of multi-card flops. The participant resulting poker hands are compared to the remaining resulting poker hands on a per-poker game basis, such that the participant resulting poker hands and the remaining resulting poker hands associated with corresponding multi-card flops are compared to determine a winning poker hand for each of the concurrently-played poker games.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method for electronically facilitating concurrent play of multiple, communal-card poker games by a participant is provided. A plurality of selectable starting hands of cards are displayed on a display device, wherein each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand. The participant is allowed to select one of the plurality of selectable starting hands via a user interface. A plurality of multi-card flops are displayed on the display device, wherein each of the multi-card flops displayed corresponds to one of the concurrently-played poker games. A plurality of participant resulting poker hands are derived, one for each combination of the participant""s selected starting hand and each of the multi-card flops, wherein each of the participant""s resulting poker hands is derived by determining the highest poker rank available for a predetermined number of total cards associated with each combination of the participant""s selected starting hand and each of the multi-card flops. Analogously, a plurality of remaining resulting poker hands are derived, one for each combination of non-selected ones of the starting hands and each of the multi-card flops, wherein each of the remaining resulting poker hands is derived by determining the highest poker rank available for the predetermined number of total cards associated with each combination of the non-selected starting hands and each of the multi-card flops. The participant""s resulting poker hands are compared to the remaining resulting poker hands for each of the concurrently-played poker games, to determine whether the participant""s resulting poker hands have higher poker ranks than corresponding ones of the remaining resulting poker hands for each of the concurrently-played poker games.
Another embodiment of the invention allows a plurality of poker players to concurrently play multiple communal-card poker rounds. A plurality of starting hands are presented face-up, where each starting hand includes one or more cards representing a potential portion of a resulting poker hand. Each player is required to select any one of the starting hands, and multiple players may select the same starting hand. A plurality of communal-card flops are presented face-up, where one of the communal-card flops is presented for each of the multiple poker rounds that is concurrently played. For a first concurrently-played poker round, the players"" resulting poker hands are compared to one another, where each of the players"" resulting poker hands is derived from the player""s selected starting hand and a first communal-card flop. For a second concurrently-played poker round, the players"" resulting poker hands are again compared to one another, where each of the players"" resulting poker hands is derived from the player""s selected starting hand and a second communal-card flop. A predetermined poker rank is used as the criterion for comparison. Additional poker rounds may also be played, where each of the players"" resulting poker hands associated With a particular flop are similarly compared.
In accordance with another embodiment, a method for concurrently playing multiple communal-card poker games is provided, where a plurality of selectable starting hands of cards are presented. Each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand. Game participants are allowed to select any one of the plurality of selectable starting hands. A plurality of communal-card flops are presented, where each of the presented communal-card flops corresponds to one concurrently-played communal-card poker game. Resulting poker hands are derived for each of the concurrently-played communal-card poker games for each of the participants, where each of the resulting, poker hands is derived from at least a portion of the cards associated with each selected starting hand and one of the communal-card flops. Each of the participants"" resulting poker hands are compared to each other on a per-poker game basis.
Another embodiment involves a method for concurrently playing multiple poker rounds, where a plurality of starting hands are dealt. Each starting hand includes one or more cards representing a potential portion of a resulting poker hand. One of the starting hands is selected by a game participant for use in all of the multiple poker rounds. The remaining starting hands are distributed to a corresponding number of dummy hands for use in all of the multiple poker rounds. These dummy hands are not associated with an actual player, but instead represent hands that the participant must beat in order to win corresponding poker rounds. A plurality of communal card flops are also dealt, wherein each of the communal card flops includes at least one face up card. The number of communal card flops dealt corresponds to the number of multiple poker rounds being concurrently played. Participant poker ranks are determined for each of the game participant""s resulting poker hands derived from cards comprising the selected starting hand and each of the plurality of the communal card flops. Similarly, remaining poker ranks are determined for each resulting dummy hand derived from cards comprising each remaining starting hand and each of the plurality of the communal card flops. For each of the multiple poker rounds concurrently played, it is then determined which of the participant""s resulting poker hands and the dummy hands corresponds to a winning poker hand in accordance with a predetermined poker rank hierarchy.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented poker system for allowing a game participant to concurrently play a plurality of communal-card poker rounds is provided. A display device displays an electronic image of a plurality of starting hands and a plurality of communal-card flops. The number of the communal-card flops dealt corresponds to the number of concurrently played communal-card poker rounds, and the starting hands represent a potential portion of a resulting poker hand. A user interface is provided to allow the game participant to select one of the displayed starting hands. A computer processing system is configured to derive a plurality of participant""s resulting poker hands from corresponding card groups comprising the selected starting hand and each of the plurality of communal-card flops, and to derive remaining resulting poker hands from corresponding card groups comprising each non-selected starting hand in connection with each of the plurality of communal-card flops. The computer processing system also determines relative poker ranks of the participant""s resulting poker hand and the remaining resulting poker hands for each corresponding poker round.
Another aspect of the invention includes a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for executing a program of instructions. The program instructions carry out various steps to allow concurrent play of multiple communal-card poker games. These steps include displaying a plurality of selectable starting hands of cards on a display device, wherein each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand. The steps further include allowing the participant to select one of the plurality of selectable starting hands via a user interface. A further step displays a plurality of multi-card flops on the display device, wherein each of the multi-card flops displayed corresponds to one of a plurality of concurrently-played poker games. The program of instructions further derives a plurality of participant resulting poker hands and a plurality of remaining resulting poker hands. One participant resulting poker hand is provided for each combination of the participant""s selected starting hand and the plurality of multi-card flops, and the remaining resulting poker hands involve combinations of the non-selected starting hands and each of the plurality of multi-card flops. The program instruction steps further includes comparing the participant resulting poker hands to the remaining resulting poker hands on a per-poker game basis, such that the participant resulting poker hands and the remaining resulting poker hands associated with corresponding multi-card flops are thereby compared.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its details are capable of modification without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.